“I broke my foot at work and I was evicted and fired a week later. So I was forced to be homeless on the streets with a broken foot, nothing to do, like how can I work?
I panhandled, and begged other people to help me because I had no way to work, had a broken foot.
I can come across food, but housing is almost impossible.
I had help through [Northern Nevada] Hopes with housing at one point, but then they were only able to help me that once.
[In Reno], they say they help, but they choose who they want to help. They don't want to help everybody.
To be honest, [I’d like to see] just better resources and less judgment. A lot less judgment. We're not all bad people. There's different circumstances [out here]. We're just trying to survive like everybody else.
[My holiday plans] are to sleep and try to survive every day. Because yeah, I don't know what I'm doing. I have kids and stuff. I don't get to see them. Holidays are tough. Holidays are real tough.
I live oddly enough to be alive, the opportunity that I could still see my kids [again] one day.
You guys [Our Town Reno reporters] have your mask on and I don't have one on and I apologize for that, but, it's just been, to be honest with you, it has been hard.
It's been harder to survive and try to come up on money. There have been a lot of people that come out and help, help give us food all day long.
Yesterday I ate. So you know, I'm grateful for that but it's just hard because how are we supposed to stay safe from this pandemic when we're homeless. I have nowhere to go. So what am I supposed to do? You know? And I'm starting to feel sick now with all the weather changes. So hopefully it's not the COVID.
[My message to others is] just be kind, just be kind and less judgment, you know? Cause you guys, no offense, but anybody could be one step away from where I'm at.
And then how would you feel begging at the mercy of other people? You know, I'm not proud of what I'm doing. I'm not proud of where I'm at, but circumstances happened so you know, just be kind.
I'm waiting for my ID so I can hopefully get a job. My foot's better now and so I can go back to work, but I was mugged, my purse, go figure. And so I'm just waiting for my ID so I can hopefully get back to work. “